Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Too Much Tennis!

Hey hey it's me again!

So I hope yall are prepared to hear a really weird story. So last
Monday we played tennis basically all day with the Elders in our district.
It was a BLAST but by the time 6:00 came around and we had our first
appointment we were exhausted! (It seemed like a good idea at the time). So
we go try the person and they aren't there and we are walking back to the
car and Hna McCormick tells me that her head hurts and she feels kinda
weird so I asked if she wanted to go back to the apartment but she said she
was okay to keep going. So we went to our next appointment which was with
Alex and on the way there she is acting SO WEIRD. You guys she couldn't put
a sentence together and she couldn't remember any Spanish at all. So we are
at our cita with Alex and she is trying to speak to him in Spanish but it
came out as weird Spanish/pure English. At first it was really funny and we
were all laughing because she was trying to tell him that her dog had
puppies and she kept saying "my perro had poopies!!" haha but then she
almost passed out and couldn't remember where we were or what we were doing
or how to speak any language so I started to freak out a little. So I told
her I was going to take her home but we had a lesson at 8:00 with one of our
investigators and she was insistent that we went to that lesson.  So we
went, and to be short, it was probably the worst lesson of my life...our
investigators mom told us to never come back again and hna McCormick was in
the bathroom throwing up and yeah...haha.  It was something else that's for
sure! Hna McCormick didn't remember any of it the next day so I told her
everything that happened and we laughed about it basically all day haha.

President Crawford told me one time that the secret to life is turning a
negative into a positive!

Anyway, in better news! Alex and Gloria are getting baptized this
Saturday!! I could not be more excited! It's so interesting to me to compare
the two because getting Alex to this point has been such a long journey and
getting Gloria to this point has been so easy! I just know that God loves
his children and he will guide them to the truth in the best way for them.
This week is going to be a little stressful trying to teach Gloria
everything she needs to know before baptism and getting Alex moved out but
I couldn't be more grateful and happy. You guys the Church is true!

I love you all so much! And Hayden I'm so glad you are okay.  That is truly a
miracle story.  You are a champion!

Con Amor,
Hermana San Juan

Elder Mamea trying to pump up our flat tire with a bicycle pump.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Three Miracles

Hey yalllll (I promise I will never say that when I get home)

Three miracles this week:

#1 The most important one. I found $11 on the ground.

#2 We were walking out of an apartment complex and this lady came up to us and asked if we were Mormons and then told us that her sister is a member of our Church and that she has been wanting to talk to missionaries forever but she could just never find any! Then she asked if we could come back the next day! uh yeah! 

Katelyn, Gloria, Hermana McCormick
#3  I can't believe I haven't told you guys about Gloria yet!!! We have been teaching her for about 2 weeks now and she has a baptismal date for May 31st. It's basically the coolest story ever how we started teaching her. So she is a friend of Hermana Badillo (a member in the ward). And they met about a year ago but hadn't really talked since then. So one day Hermana Badillo was on her knees praying to God for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone. Then not too long after she hears a knock on her door. It's Gloria! Gloria came over because she had been feeling a little empty inside and knew that Hna Badillo went to a church and was really happy there so she decided to go over to her house and ask if she could go to church with her. Hna Badillo of course said yes and called us right after and invited us to go over to her house and teach Gloria! We invited her to be baptized and she accepted. She is SO prepared. This experience has strengthened my testimony even more that miracles do happen and that God loves all his children.
 

There was a big rainstorm the other day and the streets were flooded. 
I love you all so much! Thank you for all your support and love! I love getting letters, packages, and e-mails from you all they really make my day.






Thanks for the muffin mix Dad. They were delicious!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Pho

HEY,

So I don't really have much to say because I just talked to yall yesterday!! Yeah remember that? It kinda feels like a dream. But it was so great taking to my fav people :) I have the best family ever. Pretty sad to hear that I don't have a Spanish accent yet I will keep working on that..:)

Anyway we went to Arturo's apartment with Alex yesterday so that he could check it out and its official...Alex is moving in with Arturo! He is moving in at the end of May and then getting baptized a couple of days later. We are so happy for him and we know God is happy with the decisions he is making even though they are not easy ones. You guys, Alex didn't even know what a Mormon was a couple months ago and now he is moving in with one and getting baptized. The gospel changes lives.

So on Thursday our 82 year old neighbor Chi ha came over and brought us this soup that is apparently really famous in Vietnam called pho. It had a bunch of raw meat in it and looked and smelled pretty weird but it tasted delicious! The pictures attached will explain it all. I hope you enjoy hahahaha.



Also Hermana McCormick tried speaking to a Vietnamese man in Spanish the other day and I was dying laughing.
I love you all so much!!!!

Love,
Hermana San Juan

Monday, May 5, 2014

Hermana McCormick--New Companion



 Sweet yeah?

          Sup?
So I'm sure y'all are wondering who my new comp is right?? Her name is Hermana McCormick and she is from Willard, Utah! She is super cool and I am so excited to serve with her. I saw her at transfer meeting and I totally called that I was going to be put with her. She has been out about 8 months. She is such a positive, happy person. This transfer is going to be awesome. 
I do miss my girl Hermana Shannon though. She just got moved to the area right next to Broadway though so we are still going to see each other all the time and we are in the same zone so basically we are going to be FINE.

Also good news/bad news. So I really have no idea if I told yall this but Alex has a baptism date for May 30 (his b-day) and he is currently living with his girlfriend right now so he is planning of moving out on May 27 so that he can be baptized on the 30th. I have so much respect for him. He is having to go through a lot to be baptized but he knows how important it is and he is willing to do hard things. Anyway, he is going to be moving out of our area/ward :(  But the good news is that he is moving into Hermana Shannon's new ward! Kinda crazy huh? It's neat how things work out.

I have been telling everyone about Spencer's mission call! We had a dinner on Wednesday night with la familia Madrigal and Hermana Madrigal talked to me almost the whole time we were there about how much she loves it over there and how Chihuahua is super pretty. She said she has family in Juarez and that they love it. She is really excited about your mission call Spencer haha! She told me that everyone there has blonde hair and blue eyes so you are going to fit right in :)

We are teaching Mario's (our recent convert) wife and her son right now. They are planning on getting baptized on the 17th. They are excited to get sealed in the temple in a year!

So while we were in a lesson with Alex the other day he turns to me and asks "What motivates you everyday, what makes you wake up in the mornings?" So that question really got me thinking. And I decided that my love for God motivates me. And my love for the people. I know that I could sleep in everyday if I wanted and be lazy, but my love for God carries me forward. Sometimes your investigators teach you more than you teach them.  

 Good old Martin. This is the lesson that we had with Martin and Alex. haha I love them. 
We had a miracle this week! Me met this 16 year old kid named Joseph while we were trying to find a less active. We invited him to be baptized on June 7th and he said yes! He is one of those people that just gets it and is sincerely looking for the truth.

I am in LOVE with being a missionary. And I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday! :) I love you guys a lot!

Con Amor,
Hermana San Juan